Vertical Image
by suicide-goddess
Summary: A journey, a legend, four souls joined together on a path that will determine that fate of the world....hehehe, my first fic. SS, ET later on. plz RR! Pleaze give it a chance!


Disclaimer: I don't own CCS now leave me alone!  
  
Vertical Image  
  
Card Captor Sakura  
  
Prologue  
  
Centuries ago, in a world called Taslyer, a time period when human and beasts lived together in peace. The human, lived on the north side of the world while the beasts on the south. It was all going so well, until a disease spread across the beasts. They blamed human of living with them and spreading it to them. Not soon after, they world broke into a cold-blooded war; no one was to be spared but the strongest of all. The war went on for hundreds of years; a half of the living was killed. Peace doesn't exist anymore on both of the sides. No one dared to rest until one of the sides were completely demolished and all the bodies were burned.  
  
The gods had no other choice but to put an end to the war as more and more died everyday. They created a spell within a thousand of days and released it on the beasts. The spell had made them loose their senses of good or evil, friends or foe, killing themselves, allies and families. The gods realized that the spell had seemingly made it worse; they locked the beasts up to prevent farther destruction.  
  
Clow Reed predicted "One day, one human with the blood of the beasts combined with their own will break the spell and free all chaos."  
  
Thus, the story begins...  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
Trip to Destiny  
  
The lights of dawn emanated through the dark clouds that gave out the storm the night before. A figure could be seen standing by the dock, the wood underneath cracked lightly supporting the weight above. Her dark black hair tied into buns with bright red ribbons blew freely in the morning breeze. Those fierce ruby eyes twinkled with the reflection of the sunrise in the water beneath the loosely built wooden dock. The wind blew stronger causing her dress to sway up baring her long flawless legs, as the thoughts of yesterday evening ran pass her mind again.  
  
She knelt in front of the statue for hours, praying that it would cure her. Fainting was constant for her lately, and same went for sleep walking and crying. Sighed, she shut her eyes trying to relax the morning away. It's been a while since the last time she stood outside this early in the morning and watching the sunrise above the water and through the clouds. Her knees still hurt from kneeling the day before.  
  
~*~Flashback~*~  
  
The red carpet stretched from this side of the room all the way across to the other side in Linghuan, the church of souls. The whole place was lit up with thousands of candles in every corner of the building. A girl knelt in front of a large green statue that carried a tooth of some kind, its wings rested aside it's shoulders and it's long flowing dress/robe touched the ground. The girl, knelt with the corners of her lips tilted upwards, but the smile was barely visible. Her palms closed up facing each other and were placed in front of her chain.  
  
Outside that room, we hear a whole string of complaints and hushing from a certain male. He impatiently sat and waited for the long evening to end with his stomach thundering out of hunger and weariness. "Do you mind hurrying that up!? It won't kill you to come after dinner time, but it will kill me to wait here till then!"  
  
"Shut up for the tenths time already!? It won't be pretty when I come out there!" She shouted back loosing her focusing for a while.  
  
~*~End of flashback~*~  
  
The whole of the sun finally abandoned the water and rose high up in the now blue sky. The temperature was still rather chilly than it would be in the afternoon. She closed her eyes once again and let the breeze hit and smother over her crimson cheeks. All of a sudden, some heavy object landed on her right shoulder immediately shaking her back onto earth. Her eyes fluttered open finding her brother standing right behind her still half asleep telling from the way his head tilted and the bubbles from his nose.  
  
"What are you doing up so early?" He asked rubbing his eyes trying to adjust to the lighting.  
  
She turned her gaze back onto the gleaming water and slowly answered, "Isn't it so beautiful?" She asked pointing towards the orange reflection of the early sunrise that left its touch on the surface.  
  
"That doesn't answer my question. Why are you up four in the morning?"  
  
Her attention was scattering over the end lines of the water not paying a lot of in towards her brother. "....I woke up, and can't fall back to sleep.."  
  
Her head was feeling a little dense and dizzy, but ignored it since it didn't quite bother her. Suddenly, all the things around her started to spin out of range. It felt like she was floating at the same time as falling. Clouds covered her eyes and forced it shut. Her body fell on the deck creating some more wood cracks along with some of the weeds growing out of it falling into the water inches away. "....."  
  
"Mei Lin? Mei Lin, what's wrong! Tell me, tell me!!!" He bent down and shook her unconscious body furiously, cursing the whole evening that they wasted in front of that statue.  
  
A man with brown hair walk pass, seeing the scene, he ran up to them, stood next to the boy and said, "Common, bring her back into the house!" Without hesitation, he grabbed her arms while the younger one grabbed her legs. They quickly carried her back into the house and put her on a bed, then both plopped down onto chairs panting heavily. If Mei Lin was awake right not, they would have definatly made fun of her on how heavy she was.  
  
Other villagers came in trying to find out what happened, piled around the bed. "Syaoran, we need to get a doctor!" Fujitaka called out pushing through the crowd.  
  
"But the nearest hospital isn't over 200 miles away in Kinomoto Kingdom!" Syaoran answered back remembering how the last time his friend went there, it took him three days.  
  
He hesitated, looking all around for something that could keep the girl's fever down that started when she fainted. He turned to the neighbors for help. A deep navy blue haired boy stepped out, Fugitaka remembered him from always hanging around Syaoran.  
  
"There's a sorcerer that lives to the northeast of the Ruin Forest. He cured my broken arm once. His names Yue" he told them. Syaoran grabbed his sword and hopped out of the front door yelling back, "Thanks Eriol, I own you one!"  
  
"Wait!!" Eriol leaped after him getting a hold on the edge of his shirt dragging him face down onto the ground with an oof. "Here's some medicine that I gathered from Kinomoto Kingdom last time." He dug out three pieces of ragged leaves with the edges all cut up and ripped. Syaoran grabbed it out of his hand and flied across the sidewalks into the Ruin Forest out of the West Gate.  
  
The gate was built to keep bad spirits away with its fifty feet high walls that expanded beyond the tree's reach and connected to the bright sky above. Beyond the gate, is a pitch of darkness, the forest so thick that almost no sunlight could shine through, only strands of morning gold shimmering through the gap between leaves. On the ground, was a light dirt path, created by all the hunters that lived around there. The path was light, hardly visible, you had to get use to all the broken down trees branches and bushes to be able to make out the slightest curb in the path.  
  
Syaoran got out his sword ready in hand in case of attacks. There were rumors of people going in there and never coming out again, but then, how does Yue survive in there?  
  
'I knew the statue of the legendary 'creator' was a piece of crap! Didn't even do anything for her sitting in front of it for the whole day!' He cursed the statue and the church that it sat in for he wasted an entire marvelous evening yesterday, plus a mouth-watering dinner made from his favorite Aunt.  
  
The place was rather quiet today, only with birds chirping with the wind creating a fine flowing rhythm in the darkness of the forest.  
  
It had gotten it's name as the Ruin Forest from the tales of many beast hunters that there was a secret cove to the East, but not many lived to tell about it though. No one knew what happened to those that hadn't make it out of there, some say that they were slaughtered by the Beasts that was locked there, and others say that they were lost and died of hunger. The memories of those stories found their way back into his mind after so long of time. It gave him the creeps to actually be in that same forest, the forest where many of the famous hunters died.  
  
He thought about those stories unwillingly, trying his hardest to forget about them, but his brain wouldn't listen to his commands and those stories kept coming back. He picked up the pace heading north, not wanting to die of hunger in there. The broken branches were all over the ground, the path had disappeared a while back. Perhaps this is the farthest anyone ever made in alive, and perhaps this is where everyone that came in here turned and walked back, or gets lost and never see the world outside again! 'What am I saying? I'll be fine.' he mentally reassured himself but he knew for himself that once he had stepped in here, unless with the help of someone that knew this place upside down, he wasn't going to make it out okay. Now that he thought of it, going 200 miles to Allen city wasn't that bad comparing to death in this kind of place.  
  
The leaves crunched beneath his feet, and the forest, as it always does, was raining down branches broken by some birds or squirrels. Syaoran proceeded his route trying to ignore and not look back. He wouldn't want to find someone following him added to a time like this.  
  
With a sudden movement, his ground began to sink fast, everything went upward but him. A couple of leaves fell with him into the hole.  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut, saying his finally good byes to the world. He knew that if he hadn't fell to the ground yet, then when he does, it won't be pretty to anyone. Just as that though ran by, a flash of pain ran across his behind, landing like a huge rock onto the soft dirt on the bottom. Still, Syaoran didn't dared to open up his eyes. All the sounds of wind stopped by his ears, the sounds of birds chirping came back, and all was like before.  
  
After punching himself stupidly in the head that really hurt, assured him that he was still alive, "uhhhhhh......" he groan painfully clutching onto his left arm. His eyelids scrunched up, allowing vision little by little, hoping not to meet the dooms of hell, sure he wasn't gonna gotta heaven. Everything was the same, only the fact that his elevation was much, much lower than before, and his arm bled from all the scratches of falling.  
  
Now for the hard part, getting back up. It was at least a seven-yard climb, wasn't that bad for a rope. But as stupid as Syaoran can get, he hadn't thought up of a possibility that a rope would come in any use, so that wasn't an option. He got onto his feet and clung into the rocks that stuck out on the sides. Not after a few feet of climbing, his finger slipped and his whole body fell back down again, going through the same thing as before, only this time, he knew he'll be alright.  
  
"OWWWWWWWWWW!!!" He screamed in pain scaring a whole crew of birds away that was singing happily on those loose branches. His fingers were buried in blood mixed with dirt, giving him a painful affect. 'Awe man! Hang on Mei Lin, I'll be back soon.' Continued on with his climbing.  
  
"Who's in there!?" a voice yelled sternly, echoing through the round space Syaoran was in and made it ten times as loud.  
  
"Who are you? Can you get me out of here?!" He grabbed his first opportunity to get out of that heck hole.  
  
Footsteps began to sound, then it got lighter, and lighter, until it as impossible to hear. His chance had slipped away, the only other living human in that forest abandoned him trapped inside that huge spacious hole, but how much space it had doesn't mean that he'll live longer.  
  
Lost in his train of thoughts, a rope cling down on one side. A shadow appeared on the other. It's white hair reflected the littlest light there was, showing it off clearly and brightly. "Common, grab on!" The sheet of shadow with its long silvery white hair called out.  
  
Syaoran stared at the rope, then at the person above. Without another word, he grabbed the rope and started to make his way upward to the opening. His hands weren't cooperating with him very well, plus the blood and dirt that was already there, he was getting splinters from the rough crafted rope that was probably made from some kind of animal skin, Syaoran examined.  
  
The opening was narrow, thus making it harder for him to just clutch onto it and pull himself up on the last step.  
  
Syaoran panted heavily, for a minute there, he thought that he really was gonna die. Thank god that fate was nice to him and his younger sister. Whipping the dirt off, he stared up to see who his savior was. The tall white haired man stood by him, looking questioned.  
  
"Uh...I'm here to look for Yue. You know where he is?" Syaoran asked whipping the blood on his hands onto his shirt.  
  
"Why are you looking for him?"  
  
"My sister is seriously illed, I have to find a doctor quick."  
  
"I'll come with you, hurry up." Yue ushered already taking steps towards the back exit. Syaoran looked at him awkwardly, that guy still didn't answer if he knew where Yue was, how weird. But there was nothing else to do than to follow and see. So he chased after the disappearing figure in the deep forest, couldn't help but noticing that it was the same way he came in from. Did he pass Yue's house already? But that can't be, there were nothing but trees in sight for as far as best eye vision goes . Where were they going?  
  
The place suddenly got lighter, Syaoran was sure that it has to be the afternoon for the forest to be so lit up like this, or it could be a fire. They came out of the forest silently, Yue, the guy in front of the dumbfounded Syaoran, hadn't said a word even with Syaoran stabbing questions into his head.  
  
They were back at the west gate where people piled around them worriedly staring into the dark forest for Syaoran's save return with Yue. "Ah! Hey, we're back at the village again. But but but I didn't find.." Syaoran jumped up furiously, this weird guy was getting in his way, and following him was a big mistake! Not likely.  
  
"YAY!! Syaoran! You found him!" Lily, one of the neighbor's daughter that had had a crush on him since six-year old, screamed above all the noises. She bounced up to him pushing everyone out of the way, and landed on him like a piano making them both fall back creating a pile of dust on the sandy path that led out the gate. Yue shook his head and sighed silently.  
  
"I I found who?" Syaoran, as confused as ever, had no idea what she was talking about.  
  
Lily got off of him all starry eyed pointed at Yue with full excitement. "Him, him, him!! That famous sorcerer that everyone was talking about after you left. Ahhhh!! Your so brave Syaoran!!" Once again bouncing onto him falling backwards.  
  
*Sweat drop*  
  
"Ah! Get off of me!!" He pushed her off and jumped up with Lily purring like a cat at his feet. "And who did you say?" He asked again cleaning out his ears for better hearing.  
  
"That Yue person."  
  
"HIM!" Syaoran flew up ten feet in the air pointing rapidly at the white haired guy. "He-he's Yue?!"  
  
"Why, I look too immature?"  
  
"No, I don't know, I thought he was like a thousand years old with a ten feet long beard!" Syaoran confessed with Lily still jumping around like mad. He swore if she weren't so hyper, maybe he would have liked her, keyword maybe.  
  
Fugitaka pushed through the thick crowd and yelled to them, "Hurry up!" With that, they all ran towards Syaoran's house where Mei Lin still lay unconsciously on the bed, leaving Lily still being crazy hopping up and down all alone.  
  
The door slammed open, everyone rushed in jamming the door, even making cracks in the doorframe. Finally Syaoran squeezed through hanging onto Yue's sleeves pulling him through as well.  
  
On the bed, Mei Lin lay in her pajamas, her hair spread out over her shoulders and some plastered onto her face. Sweat quickly ran down her forehead onto her cheeks, then to her neck. She was sweating terribly from the fever and it's not going down either. The littlest of moans and cries could be heard coming from the back where her friends where. Everyone was worried, a fever was nothing, but the sweat really scared them. Plus the designs on her skin that was beginning to surface now. There were fangs and scales coming into shape on her arms and neck, they were probably all over her body by looking at the population of it on her arm.  
  
Yue sat on a chair by the bed and shut his eyes, focusing on the girl's body before him. He put his hands next to each other forming a circular shaped space in between. A fierce energy bulb appeared between his hands. Inside the bulb was a card of some sort. Then it shattered into pieces and the energy disappeared also. Syaoran stared nervously next to Yue, he was sweating as much as his sister was. If Yue hurt Mei Lin with his power, he would kill him for all the pain. Though Mei Lin hadn't seemed that she had felt a thing, still was unconsciously clutching onto the blanket on the side.  
  
~~Two hours later~~  
  
Everyone has gone back to where they're supposed to be and done what they were supposed to do. Yue and Syaoran sat out side in the living room discussing Mei Lin's disease.  
  
"It is a spell that the gods put onto all beasts, the incurable once where locked in the deepest of the darkness where they would never be found again. The spell is ceasing and we don't have much time, if we don't find a way to brake the spell soon, then she'll turn into one of those beasts." Yue explained. "You do know of the creator's last words, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, the first thing that I learned in school." Syaoran answered letting his impatient side take over, "How do I break the spell?"  
  
"Destiny will bring you there if you are the one chosen." Yue sighed out loud, the day was really tiring, with all that's happened, it was just merely the beginning of all that will occur. His predictions were always correct, not believing them will be one's biggest mistake.  
  
"What does that got to do with any of this?"  
  
"There's the blood of the beasts running through your blood line, your sister is one of them, but the spell is protecting her right now. Only the blood of a full transformed beast will delay her transformation for couple decades, but breaking the spell is the true way out of this."  
  
Syaoran sank down on the sofa getting interested in the story very much indeed. "Tell me more of the beasts."  
  
"There are fifty-two of them locked up in total in Linghuan, but exactly where in there, no one knows either. Cards that are called Clow Cards represents each of the beasts locked up. Only gaining control of those will break the spell. But they've vanished hundreds of years ago after the world war. No one has seen them since. "  
  
Syaoran was getting more worried by the minute. His chances of saving his sister has vanished hundreds of years ago like Yue just said. Going back in time was not possible to do. The only thing he could do for her right now is go and look for the cards even if it meant his life. Their father died when they were little. Not soon after, their mother abandoned them and was never seen again. Mei Lin was the only relative that he had, he's willing to do anything for her to stay alive and healthy. Nothing else was more important than that.  
  
With that last thought, he got up and went into his room leaving Yue staring after him not very surprised by his actions, for he already know of Syaoran's decision.  
  
**************************************************************************** ********  
  
That's all for the first chapter!! YAY!! I know, I know, it's kind off confusing, but it will all be sorted out in later chapters..hehe. And oh, Fujitaka adopted Syaoran and Mei Lin, so they are not related. Please review, please, please, please.!!!*puts on a puppy face* I want to know how good it really feels to actually get a review! Please!  
  
Press the cute little bottom!! ^_^!! 


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